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Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour, 115 station main line route that runs from Bedford, Luton, Peterborough and Cambridge via Greater London into Sutton, Sevenoaks, Horsham and Brighton. Additional services to East Grinstead and Littlehampton operates at peak times. The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding in 1998, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. All the services are currently operated by Thameslink. The Thameslink Programme is a major $5.5 billion scheme to increase capacity on the central London service by accommodating more frequent and longer trains, replacing Thameslink 2000. The upgrade is scheduled for completion in 2019. In 2016, new Class 700 started operating on the route and have now replaced the Class 319, Class 377 and Class 387 trains which were withdrawn and relocated elsewhere. Route When Govia operated the original Thameslink franchise, it was designated "Thameslink CityFlier" and "Thameslink CityMetro" respectively, but at the First Capital Connect, the brandings were dropped. Govia Thameslink Railway have referred to the services as Route TL1 (formerly Route 6) and Route TL2/TL3 (formerly Route 7/8) respectively. During the Thameslink administration, it had spun off Kevin Choo and Julie Koh in 2009, into Carisbrooke Grove from Serangoon North, but the merger had resulted in the formation of Skyfall Line, as well as the formation of the franchise from Simon Ng's car routes. History Passenger services operated across London through the Snow Hill Tunnel from mid-Victorian times until World War I, when services terminated at Moorgate from the Midland line to the north, and at Holborn Viaduct from the south, at a time when most inner cross-London traffic had been lost to buses and trams. There were low-level platforms under the main part of Holborn Viaduct station known as the Snow Hill platforms: these can still be seen when leaving City Thameslink station travelling northwards. On 14 June 1941 railwayman George Dow proposed in an article in the London evening newspaper The Star that new routes, in tunnel, be built from Marylebone south to Victoria, and from King's Cross south to Charing Cross. Both were to connect with a Paddington–Liverpool Street tunnel that he proposed, anticipating Crossrail by 40 years. He also proposed a north-east/south- west route from Liverpool Street to Charing Cross, all designed to give London a comprehensive main-line network of connections. The Snow Hill Tunnel route remained open for cross-London freight trains until 1970, when the short section between Farringdon and Holborn Viaduct was closed. Overhead electrification, completed in 1982, allowed the northern section to run as the Midland City Line from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to St Pancras, and via the City Widened Lines to Moorgate. The Snow Hill tunnel was re-opened by British Rail to passenger trains after 72 years, with Thameslink beginning in May 1988. On 29 January 1990 the section between Blackfriars and Farringdon was temporarily closed to permit the construction of a new alignment. The route through the site of the long-closed Ludgate Hill station, over Ludgate Hill to Holborn Viaduct was abandoned and demolished. The replacement route under Ludgate Hill was opened on 29 May 1990 by the Network SouthEast (sector of British Rail) concurrently with City Thameslink station, which was initially called St Paul's Thameslink but was renamed in 1991 to avoid confusion with St. Paul's station on the Underground (Central line), about 500 m (550 yd) away. King's Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed on 8 December 2007 when the Thameslink platforms at nearby St Pancras opened. In the south the services divide: main-line trains run through London Bridge to East Croydon and Brighton, but the other route has a more convoluted history. In 1988–91 trains went via Bromley to Orpington and Sevenoaks, and via Herne Hill and East Croydon to Purley (off peak only). Later, non-Brighton trains ran via Elephant & Castle and Streatham to West Croydon, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Epsom, Leatherhead and Effingham Junction, to Guildford. On the privatisation of British Rail, Thameslink was franchised to Thameslink, a subsidiary of Govia. Around 1994, the second branch was cut back to West Croydon, as the route crossed of commuter networks of what were to become several different companies and privatisation made the route increasingly difficult to maintain. Around 1995, the route was changed completely, with a route to Sutton via Mitcham Junction continuing on a loop to Wimbledon rejoining itself south of Streatham replacing the West Croydon service. By late 1998, more than 28,000 passengers were carried at morning peak hours. From 1 April 2006, the franchise was taken over by First Capital Connect along with some services previously operated by WAGN. The branding of most trains, stations and signs were changed to match the name of the new company, but the City Thameslink and West Hampstead Thameslink were not renamed as Thameslink along the route. After criticism of the loss of apt name for this group of the routes, First Capital Connect publicly began calling these services its "Thameslink route" to distinguish it from the WAGN services. Following the success of the original scheme, plans were drawn up to upgrade the network to cope with the increasing passenger numbers that have led to severe peak-time overcrowding. Network Rail obtained planning permission and legal powers in 2006, funding was secured in July 2007 and construction began in October 2007. Plans included rebuilding the station buildings at Farringdon (in conjunction with the Crossrail project) and West Hampstead Thameslink, total rebuild of London Bridge and Blackfriars stations, two new underground platforms at St Pancras International, a new tunnel north of St Pancras International to the East Coast Main Line to allow through services to Peterborough and Cambridge in 2017, and platform lengthening, now being completed. A new 8 and 12 carriage fleet of Class 700 began entering service in 2016. The London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy published in July 2011 lays out a provisional 24tph timetable. South of London it will provide four trains to Brighton (one semi-fast, one stopping) and two each to Three Bridges, Horsham, East Grinstead, Caterham, Tattenham Corner, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford International, Maidstone East, Sevenoaks and Bellingham. North of London there will be eight semi-fast trains to Bedford, four stopping trains to St Albans, two stopping and two semi-fast trains to Luton, two semi-fast trains to Peterborough, two semi-fast trains to Cambridge and four stopping trains to Welwyn Garden City. Rolling Stock Class 317 units built in the early 1980s were still in use when services into Moorgate ceased in March 2009: the last timetable service ran from Farringdon to Bedford on 9 October 2009. Thameslink 2 'Railfuture', an organization campaigning for better rail services for passengers and freight, has proposed an additional north-south route, connecting the Brighton Main Line to routes north of London, such as East Croydon, Lewisham, Canary Wharf and Stratford.